“The level of broad corporate leadership on LGBT issues is at an historic high. Our corporate champions have already done so much to create greater equality in their own offices, stores and plants. More and more, they are one of the loudest voices in calling for full legal LGBT equality in the public debates happening around this country,” said Deena Fidas, director of the HRC Workplace Equality Program which conducts the CEI. “This kind of corporate leadership means that tomorrow’s LGBT and allied employees and consumers – today’s youth – will be entering a very different workplace than they were just a decade ago. Being able to bring their full selves to work from the get-go won’t only be a win for them, but it’ll be a win for the bottom line.”

Here in Richmond, McGuireWoods LLP and Williams Mullen PC both scored 90′s. Both fell short in coverage or options for those in the transition process.

All of these policies are of course internal polices as Virginia and the Federal government have no mandates to support LGBTQ employment, but it’s good to see companies in our home state taking steps to support our minority community.

You can read the entire CEI report here. It goes into detail about some of the broader impacts the LGBTQ community has had on the corporate atmosphere. In its 12th year, the CEI has been a benchmark for many employers as they seek to engage the LGBTQ community as a part of their workforce.

Beyond their own tracking numbers, the CEI compares their list to the Fortune 500 list of top counties in the US. The correlation shows the economic impact of supporting gender and sexual minorities – with 91 percent of Fortune 500′s providing explicit protections on the basis of sexual orientation and 61 percent on the basis of gender identity, what the HRC called a “historic high.”

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